Blue Moon
by yamishun
Summary: They meet once in a blue moon. Hitsukarin
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Who am I, a lowly fan, to go against the creator, Tite Kubo, and claim this manga/anime as mine?

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**Prologue**

_A black kimono just like Ichi-nii's…_

'_Shinigami'_

Karin could only stare at the figure that stood between her and the Menos's hand that meant only instant death. It seemed light, almost weightless against the _katana_ he held; his stance; his composure; the way his eyes remained closed despite the earth that gave way to the impact some meters from where he stood. His white sleeveless _haori_ flowing dramatically as the dusty air cleared.

"Sit upon frozen heavens" he murmured a kind of summoning, spiked white hair softly moving against the wind. She noticed the sash that hung from his right shoulder to the left side of his torso. It almost had the same color as his eyes, green in shade—turquoise perhaps. He called a name and the sky darkened with gray clouds. He released a strong current of blue _reiatsu_ that made the enemy retract its hand.

The _shinigami_ wasted no time. He threw a chain that turned the whole enemy's arm into ice. He pulled it and it came off entirely. The Menos kneeled in pain.

"Too bad," the _shinigami_ spoke, transferring the _katana_ to his right hand without breaking his stance. "With a captain in the real world, you hollow don't stand a chance."

Fragments of ice fell from the dark sky, the Menos screeched its piercing howl, red beams of light gathering into a single ball The _shinigami_ readied to attack again, muttering the words "Too slow." before leaping to deliver the final blow.

What used to be the enormous monster, turned to pure ice. The two halves drifted apart a little before cracks caused it to explode into slivers. It fell, a piece landing on her hand. Her hand twitched at the coldness, eyes glued on the boy with snow white hair. The sky cleared to a warm orange glow, the warm touch of dusk followed by the night's breeze. He held out his hand to her. She took it after slight hesitation. It was a few degrees colder than hers, despite the earlier battle.

_Was he really?_

"Toushiro, that outfit…"

He nodded to answer the question she hadn't finished.

'_A shinigami'_

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**a/n:** I seriously don't know the point of putting this as the prologue. I'm quite sure that every fan of this pairing knows this scene from that fateful filler episode. But I felt that it's a nice touch to actually put it up before posting the story. Of course it has a connection with the actual fiction since I merely played around with the events in the episode to come up with the plot but~~ Oh well, I've written until the start of chapter 3 so it's possible to have a weekly update until then. But since I'm also working on my old Gakuen Alice fan fiction, I'm not sure when I will be able to complete the 4th chapter of this. Anyway, this is a light piece of fiction and needless to say, I'm in love with the pace. I think it's just right. I hope you guys will like this and support the pair. Tee-hee~


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Who am I, a lowly fan, to go against the creator, Tite Kubo, and claim this manga/anime as mine?

* * *

**Chapter 1**

.

The night was cold, menacingly cold. She shivered underneath her blanket—blankets to be exact. She already added two extras aside from her usual but it wasn't enough to melt the growing chill of the night. It was winter; she hated winter! It was too cold for any greenery to survive or for any patch of land to stay untouched by the white blanket of snow. Karin stared out the window, looking at the snowflakes that fell from the sky. The stars were hidden behind the thick layers of puffy clouds and she could only make out what seemed to be the moon's light. She scowled at the falling snow. There's no way she'll be able to play soccer tomorrow, or any time soon for the matter. It made her mood drop from dismal to downright miserable. "Stupid snow." She muttered begrudgingly before she covered her head with the first of her many blankets, trying to lull herself to sleep.

She woke from the touch of the sunlight on her skin. She felt the slight warmth amidst the cold weather. It had not been a few minutes after she crawled lazily out of the bed when she heard Yuzu calling her name from the kitchen. Scratching her dark locks and yawning to stretch, she replied with a low "Hai, hai" that no one really heard.

"Karin-chan, hurry up or we'll be late!" Yuzu called again. Her voice was followed by the sound of plates being set on the table. Breakfast, no doubt. After muttering a few more complaints, she dragged her feet to the dining room and ate her breakfast mechanically.

The muted colors of the neighborhood depressed her and she found herself sighing more than usual. She wished she could stay home, beneath the layers of additional clothing and under the protection of the _kotatsu_. She sighed, "I really don't want to go to school today, Yuzu."

Yuzu, who was a few steps ahead of Karin, turned to the latter with a pout. "But Karin-chan! You shouldn't skip classes just because it's cold."

Karin scowled in defeat and unwillingly dragged her feet towards her sister. Retaliation isn't an option unless she was willing to wait until she hears the end of it from Yuzu. She stopped as a snowflake landed on the tip of her nose. It was while she wiped the melted snowflake that she noticed a boy that stood on the roof of one of the neighboring houses. His back was facing her, but she did her best to make out what she could; white unruly hair, a black _kimono_ beneath a contrastingly white sleeveless _haori_, and a sword on his back kept in place by a green sash. There was something inherently different about the boy she immediately assessed. He possessed an air of seriousness, authority, and power—despite his size.

"An elementary student?" she mumbled without thinking.

It was as if he heard her words. He turned slowly to her direction. She swallowed nervously, anticipating the features of his face and the color of his eyes.

"Karin-chan?" It was Yuzu. Her attention shifted from the boy to her sister. When she remembered to look back at the boy he was gone. "Yuzu, did you see the boy that stood over there?" she pointed to where the boy stood before. Her sister shook her head and replied, "I didn't see anyone Karin-chan." She frowned and wondered if it was just a figment of her imagination.

"What's wrong?" asked Yuzu, noticing her twin's change in mood.

"Nothing. Let's just go to school."

She sighed for what was probably the tenth time that hour. The day dragged on without anything interesting enough to take her mind off the boy with white hair. She tried to pay attention to the lecture but immediately returned to the former direction of her thoughts as she understood that today's lecture was about _shinigamis_ and other supernatural creatures. She dubbed it as a pointless discussion as she herself refused to believe ghosts and such creatures exist. The fact that she can see them didn't matter. She'll just act as if they weren't there.

She looked at the view from the window. White. Everything was engulfed by a layer of snow. Depression came again with the thought of being unable to play her favorite sport. She shifted her attention from the ground to the sky, eyes stopping at an odd figure sitting on the rooftop's safety rail.

"Sensei!" She raised her hand to excuse herself, giving a rather pathetic excuse such as she needed to take a shit. The class laughed and she turned a beet red by her thoughtlessness. It didn't linger on her mind for long since it got her out of the room, with a lengthy time before anyone would look for her.

Karin ran, weaving her way through the corridors to get to the staircase that led to the rooftop. The halls were empty—silent as the grave during hours like this. She could hear only her footsteps as well as her uneven breathing. Her heart was racing, adrenaline pumped in her system as she hurried to reach the door at the end of the steps. It was probably instinct that told her to hurry. Her lungs felt like they were burning by the time she reached the top. She unceremoniously opened the door and gasped in shock at what she saw.

She knew it was him by the clothes he wore and the distinct spiked hair that jutted out in all directions. But he was still a stranger whose face was unknown to her—until now. His turquoise eyes met hers briefly as he was about to jump when she pulled the door open. She froze on the spot, petrified at the thought that such a boy would commit suicide.

"Don't!" she blurted too late. The boy already leaped off the railings. She ran to the side of the building and looked down below. Nothing. No signs of an impact against the snowy ground. No corpse. She trembled uncontrollably.

"You can see me?" There was a low voice from behind. It was authoritative as well as unfamiliar. She spun around to give whoever it was a piece of her mind but she stopped midway upon a clearer view of the speaker.

"Oh." Was her brilliant reply.

He raised an eyebrow at her, successfully looking impatient despite the stoic expression he wore. Karin felt blood rise to her cheeks at the sight. He was, with no doubt, good looking.

"Oi, are you deaf or something?" he already looked irritated, like she was wasting his time by not answering. Her eyebrows twitched at the insulting question. "Excuse me?! I don't want to be asked that question by an elementary student!" They scowled at each other, eyes sizing up the other in a battle of glares with murderous intents.

They were interrupted however, by an unwelcomed presence farther down south. The boy wearing traditional clothes grunted before he jumped from building to building, towards the source of the presence. Karin watched him disappear into the maze of streets and buildings with slight concern, their earlier clash of words long forgotten.

.

_end of chapter_

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**a/n:** I know this is probably stupid to mention at the end of the chapter, but this is set a few years before the prologue. I tried to keep them as in-character as I could. I hope I succeeded. Anyway, I think this is a good opportunity to mention that the synopsis _"They meet once in a blue moon"_ means that they meet rarely, just in case someone starts wondering. Also, a blue moon was a synonym for absurdity since it was originally believed as impossible.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Who am I, a lowly fan, to go against the creator, Tite Kubo, and claim this manga/anime as mine?

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_Chapter 2_

Hitsugaya Toushiro stood on one of the long electrical poles located on a residential area in Kamakura Town. It was sometime in December, when snow descends from the sky and the cold rules over the heat. He surveyed the area, taking note of the houses and the commercial establishments that could serve as landmarks, mapping it in his head just in case the need to utilize the knowledge arises. It was a change of scenery again, having been used to staying inside the _Seireitei_ since the commotion caused by Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends. He sighed at the recollection. It was the start of all this ruckus that eventually got him back to the real world.

His head snapped up at the sudden strong _reiatsu_ he sensed, eyes already searching for the source. "A _hollow_?" the question immediately rang in his head. It was still night time, around 10 most probably. "No, it's something… _different_." It was something all right, but it was neither a _hollow_ nor was it any _shinigami_ he can recognize.

He followed the _reiatsu_, his hand on his sword, ready to unsheathe it at any time. Still he pondered at what or who could emit such a strong force, but with every guess it all ended up at the same answer, _it's not that_. He clenched his teeth in frustration.

The young captain stopped, landing in front of what seemed to be a clinic. _'Kurosaki Clinic?'_ The captain smirked. But of course the strong _reiatsu_ came from this place, Kurosaki Ichigo's home. Curiously he entered the two-story establishment through one of the windows on the upper floor. His eyes were greeted by a dimmed room with two beds. Twins, he thought, entering the room without a sound. He scratched the back of his head for the lack of a better action and sighed. "What the hell am I doing here?" The _reiatsu_ he felt earlier spiked again just as he motioned to leave. Toushiro spun around to see who between the twins possessed such a force. Curious, he silently approached the bed and watched the sleeping figure hiding beneath the many layers of blankets.

A hand that was poking out of the blankets twitched. It was soon followed by a series of restless movement and groans of discomfort. The blanket covering the figure's head lowered slightly, revealing only the dark hair of bed's occupant. "Ichi…-nii..." came the muffled murmurs. The figure was still twisting and turning in bed. A bad dream, he thought. "Masked… monsters…" the murmurs continued.

'_This person can see hollows?'_ It was starting to become a curious mystery to him.

.

"WATCH OUT!!"

Karin bolted upright, her hand stretched forward, reaching out into the air before her. She sighed in partial relief, another nightmare. She brought her knees closer to her chest and leaned on it. Right now her brother was most likely out there, fighting the masked monsters that have frequently been coming in and out of Karakura. With clenched fists she looked out the window to calm herself. The moon was bright, slightly blue in color with thin cirrus clouds partially covering a fraction of the round satellite. Somehow it calmed her and it was then that she recalled having the feeling that she was being watched while she slept.

"Maybe I was just imagining things."

.

"Captain! Welcome back~!" He nodded once before sitting on the spot where he would sleep for the night. Rangiku watched the small captain with a knowing smile, waiting for the moment where she would deliver her line.

"How was your stalk-ee?"

"Matsumoto!!"

Rangiku laughed at the reaction she got. "But captain took so long to patrol so I thought~"

"Well you thought wrong." He interrupted before his lieutenant spoke more nonsense.

"Oh, is that so?"

Toushiro knew that she was teasing him again. He turned away from her, not needing to see the ridiculous expressions on his lieutenant's face while being forced to hear more from her. They continued on with their banter until it was finally her turn to patrol.

Silence. There was a hidden beauty in such situations. It was too bad some people, like Matsumoto, don't understand the wonders brought about by silence.

.

It was another sunny day in Karakura. And in this town, it just so happened that a girl had energetically kicked the soccer ball she carried. It also just so happened that the said ball was saved from harm's way by a rather small boy. Kurosaki Karin eyed him, from the foot that kept the ball still to the white hair that spiked wildly in every direction. He looked vaguely familiar but she doesn't know when or where she had met this boy. Her eyes were locked on his the moment his turquoise orbs met hers. It felt like an eternity to Karin before the mysterious boy broke the silence.

"Is this yours?" She nodded weakly, not trusting her voice enough to answer with words.

"Be more careful next time." He kicked the ball to her, her hands catching it without difficulty before it made contact with her chest. She was about to give her thanks but when she looked up he was gone.

Karin sighed, _'I don't even know his name.'_

_xx end of chapter xx_

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**a/n:** I'm sorry if I purposely delayed this chapter's release. I was feeling very insecure about the third chapter even if it's 90% done so I was stalling. Anyway, this is one of the _better_ written chapters so I do warn you that the next ones is not that good (in my opinion) in terms of how I approached the scenes. In case someone might wonder, I used the "." just before the "WATCH OUT!" to indicate a change in the character I'm focusing on. I don't know if it could be classified into the Alternating Person View or not, but, changes in character focus will be evident in the next chapter/s.

Oh and thank you petrified078 for beta-ing this chapter for me. As usual, I still have those errors that I really can't detect.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Who am I, a lowly fan, to go against the creator, Tite Kubo, and claim this manga/anime as mine?

**note:** this takes place on the same day as the last part of the previous chapter.

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_Chapter 3:_

"You're the one who picked up my ball earlier right? Thanks for the help!" The boy looked up for a fraction of a second before returning his gaze to the phone he held. "You're welcome." He replied blandly.

He looked busy, pressing the keys on the phone with a solemn expression but Karin couldn't leave without fulfilling her purpose. "You're good at soccer aren't you?" She started, wanting to hear his voice again.

"Who knows?"

"We're having a game this Sunday and…" the display of her usual confidence surprised even herself. His presence earlier rendered her silent but at the moment she felt comfortable with him despite the looks on her friends' faces.

"Kurosaki," they murmured, pulling her away from the seemingly busy boy.

"What?" She glared at them, quite unhappy with the interruption. It had only been a few minutes since the same group was desperate to find a secret weapon for the promised soccer match. Karin couldn't understand why they're being extra picky with the scouting. The boy looked competent enough to her.

"Maybe we shouldn't…"

.

The young captain kept a blank expression, pretending to hear nothing from the murmurs that was obviously about him. The girl asked him if he played soccer before the other three arrived so he concluded they were discussing whether or not they should invite him to their team. He remained silent as the boys tried to persuade the girl to not scout him. He would've said no even if they didn't arrive to do it for him.

"Yeah, he looks dangerous. Look at those eyes! Maybe he's in a gang or something…"

Trivial matters. He thought, immediately brushing the words off as childish reasoning. He was used to such a treatment because of his appearance since his days in _Rukongai_. Magnanimity, he reminded himself, trying to preserve his calm and stoic facade as the offending party was composed of mere elementary students.

"And are you sure a midget like him can help?"

The question hit a nerve.

"Who are you calling a _super midget_ huh?"

His outburst sent the boys flinching in fear. He had anticipated just as much. But the girl's expression wasn't how he expected it to be. It was almost as if she were holding back a laugh at his reaction.

.

"We didn't exactly say super midg—" Karin stopped midway when she noticed he was already walking away. She needed to stop him and at least get him to agree to play with them before she could let him go. Her mind raced. She blinked, soccer ball on hand. A brilliant idea crossed her mind and she smiled slyly before she kicked the ball with full force towards the unnamed boy.

She knew he'd be able kick it back to her. Her expectations of his soccer skills were high. But she didn't imagine he'd kick it halfway through a back-flip. The ball flew past her at an amazing speed, hitting Kei, her friend with the afro, on the face. She stood in awe at the boy who was now patting his pants clean from imaginary dust. Her friends had already flocked towards him, asking him questions and admiring his moves. Judging by his reactions, she knew he wasn't used to this type of attention so won't be able to slip away any time soon. She stepped closer to hear his replies.

.

"Hitsugaya… Toushiro." He answered uncomfortably under their close proximity. Have humans forgotten the concept of personal space?

"Toushiro? What a cool name!"

"Where did you learn how to play like that Toushiro?"

"You have a cool hairstyle Toushiro! Did you bleach it?"

"We're counting on you Toushiro!"

The young captain was at loss for words. He kept hearing his name each time those boys opened their mouths. They kept going closer, faces bright with hope. They weren't giving him a chance to refuse. The hollow signal from his locator blinked a few more times before it stopped. Someone already took care of it. Now all he had to think about was how to take care of the soccer-playing children who flocked towards him.

"You're going right?" Her voice still had that confidence but there was something in her eyes when she said it, almost as if she were pleading him to give in. _She knew_. He closed his eyes and turned away. She already knew that he wouldn't go despite their efforts to convince him. His arms crossed against his chest, a habit of his whenever he's deep in thought. In the end all she ever got him to say was a vague "I'll think about it."

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**a/n:** Utmost apologies for the super late update! I've been neglecting my chaptered fanfics because of schoolwork and the like. I don't want this to end up like my other multi-chaptered works so I decided to post this already. This chapter is partly beta-ed by petrified078. I couldn't submit it to her again for another because I know she's busy with her undergraduate thesis. I'm sorry I couldn't make this longer! I tried but it just turns into mindless sentences that hinder the chapter's progress. Also, this was written with the intention of portraying a slow budding relationship between two unlikely characters. I developed a preference for writings that establish the foundations before everything else.

I'll try to write something that deviates away from the episode in the next chapter.

Thank you to the reviewers and the silent readers!


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Who am I, a lowly fan, to go against the creator, Tite Kubo, and claim this manga/anime as mine?

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**Chapter 4**

_Karakura__, _like any other place in the world, was hottest at noon. The concrete covered grounds and the lack of trees helped escalate the already unbearable temperature. This did little to deter the mothers and their children to spend their leisure time on the small community park located on top of a plateau that overlooked a small neighborhood. Five kids, in their late elementary school years, stood under the shade of a sturdy tree, watching the smaller children play tag a few yards in front of them. The four boys sighed helplessly. There was no way they could practice soccer there.

Toushiro watched from a distance, sitting _un_comfortably on the roof that loomed over the whole park. His eyes were on the girl, analyzing her every move as if it would give him the kind of information he wanted. Still, it wouldn't harm to try. It had been a few weeks since he started having that suspicion that she could feel _them_. It didn't escape his notice when she took distracted glances toward the general direction of the hollow on their previous encounter. Even at that moment he could recall the worry in her voice when she muttered, _"It's that feeling again…"_

He had been watching her with much concentration—_too much_—that he didn't notice when Rangiku started calling him. "_Tai~chou!_" Toushiro finally acknowledged her presence with a suspicious look. His vice-captain smiled knowingly. "Stalking again?" The suspicion in his eyes turned into a glare. "No," he answered simply, knowing that his answer would be translated as a denial. He didn't allow the older woman to have a chance to voice out her thoughts by adding, "There's something I'm just curious about." His eyes averted from his vice captain back to the girl with short raven hair. Rangiku followed his line of sight and gasped, "Wow, _taichou_ is interested in a girl from the human world!"

Toushiro almost hit his head with the palm of his hand at the statement. It was very characteristic of Matsumoto to say something like that with a serious face. He corrected her by saying she had it wrong but it reached a deaf ear. She giggled at the thought of her captain _hopelessly _in love. Said captain, however, was anything but amused. He stood up, slightly flushed with embarrassment at the whole conversation, and motioned to leave. Rangiku patted his back encouragingly.

"For the last time, you got it wrong!"

The sound of his retreating footsteps was loud against the roof, an effect of his irritation, translated to his vice captain as avoiding the topic. Rangiku called him to wait for her but he ignored it upon the obvious hints of smile in her voice.

.

Karin walked dejectedly on the way to her house. She decided to take the long route that lead to the side of the hill, where she met Toushiro for the second time. He didn't come to practice. She already expected it, but pain of rejection stung nonetheless. She had hoped he'd at least drop by to watch them or something of the sort. But he didn't. And this made her feel somewhat irritated. "Stupid boys…" she muttered.

She spotted something—some_one_ a little farther away from where she was at the moment. That someone was on the other side of the safety rails, back leaning leisurely on it to support an upright position. Karin's face brightened up and she ran up to him while she called his name.

"Toushiro!"

"It's you again." His voice sounded bored, all attention on the screen of the phone he held. She noticed that he always seemed to be texting, and each time it beeped he'd look at it with a solemn expression. Karin had no idea what the texts were about or who it was he texted, but she felt slightly sorry for Toushiro. He's so young yet he has the expressions of a person who's been through a lot. She felt the urge to alleviate him from his troubles, even for a bit.

She didn't know what to say so she asked the first thing that came to mind. "Why didn't you come to practice?" Her voice sounded a little too demanding than how she intended it to be but the tone caught his attention so she decided it was fine. He glanced at her for a fraction for a second before returning to the phone— like a moth attracted to a flame— and answered, "I didn't _explicitly_ say I'd come."

Karin bit her lower lip at the response. What he said was true and she couldn't think of anything to retort with. She decided to change the topic. "You're always here. Do you live nearby?"

"Who knows?"

Toushiro proved to be a hard conversation partner. She tried so many times to start one by asking a random question but his answers shot it dead every time. Karin found it to be _very_ frustrating but she somehow couldn't give up. "Then why are you here?"

The captain looked at the horizon, contemplating on the simplest way to answer. The sun was setting. The sky was already a myriad of colors, yellow, orange, red, pink, and blue. The view reminded him of the old days, back in _Rukongai_ with Momo. It felt nostalgic. He answered before he could realize what he said. "This is the best place to see the sky... It brings back memories…"

And there it was again. Karin watched him—the look in his turquoise eyes. It was the eyes of someone who's lived too long and seen so much. But Toushiro was still so young. It was depressing.

"Memories? Just how old are you?" she asked in attempt to distract him from his thoughts. She didn't want to see him like that any longer.

"It's none of your business." Karin couldn't help but smile at the unusual answer. She sighed in mock defeat. "Alright! Oh, old one!"

He let the comment pass. He resigned to the possibility that the girl was naturally persistent and somewhat sarcastic. The hollow locator beeped again. It was close to where he was. Toushiro jumped to the other side of the railings so that he was on the road and started to run off. He halted at the feeling of a hand clasping his arm. "Don't go there!" The words left her mouth before she could give it another thought. Karin froze when she realized what she had said less than a minute ago. Her grip on his wrist tightened. "I—that—I don't think you should go there because, uh—bad… feeling… I mean-" She struggled to find words that wouldn't sound absurd to normal people.

_xx end of chapter xx_

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**a/n:** thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter! It serves as a motivation for me to get my lazy ass moving and update as quickly as I can. I have good vibes with this fic and it's surprisingly easy for me to write it even if my main fandom right now is hetalia. Ah the powers of HitsuKarin! I'll get back to you guys in a week... hopefully.

I'm oddly proud of myself today. I managed to do 3 posters in one night! hah! xD

Well~ please R&R!


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